Review #4: LA MOCA's Collection from 1980-present at the Geffen

The Geffen in downtown LA is currently playing host to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art's permanent collection since 1980. The collection includes work from prominent post-modern artists such as Kiki Smith, Lynda Benglis, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mike Kelly, Jeff Koons, Kara Walker, Paul McCarthy, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauchenberg, Jackson Pollock, and Cindy Sherman, among many others. Seeing as much of the work we have been discussing in this class appears in this show, in this review I will attempt to chronicle the experience of seeing this art all together in a single show, as well as how the show has been constructed in what I believe to be a level playing field between Western and non-Western art.

First of all, the initial experience of walking into this show is utterly overwhelming. There is so much art on display (all of which is relevant to the history of modern and post-modern art that has been laid out in class), that there is a sense of paralysis concerning the scale of the exhibition, of which the architecture of the Geffen warehouse plays a significant part. Because of the venues extremely high ceiling and temporary walls which barely reach half its height, there is a distinct departure from the experience typically expected from an art exhibition in a major metropolitan gallery. I believe that this choice actually reflects the concerns of many of these post-modern artists, who strived to challenge the role of the art institution and the manner in which art is presented to the public. This show in particular lacks the baroque and pretentious style of presentation which many major contemporary galleries have, simply by favoring a single open space with a distinct lack of decoration, save for the art itself. Having said that, the temporary walls are just thick enough and spaced evenly enough so that the space does not feel too empty and open, which would diminish the interaction between art and viewer. This allows the art to be considered on its own terms, and not in relation to a gaudy context. Therefore, even the architecture itself supports the struggles of many of these artists.

Second, I noticed a distinct lack of cultural bias or a Western superiority complex in the selection of works, and especially in the physical placement of pieces in the show itself. For instance, on the second floor there was a piece by Kara Walker next to a disturbing depiction of a Santa massacre by the ever-shocking Paul McCarthy, which itself was next to the marble statue "Hong Kong Island", by Yukata Sone. All of these pieces had very different approaches to medium and content (although I would argue that all three pieces deal with memories of violence linked to cultural traditions which have been re-appropriated as commodity, whether it be on the large cultural scale for Walker, and Sone, or the individual scale for McCarthy), yet here they are, grouped together with a seemingly purposeful randomness. In my opinion, this allows for the art to be viewed on its own terms, and not as part of a labelled "cultural aesthetic", or some other constructed method of differentiation between Western and non-Western art. Imagine what a shame it would have been if the show had been segregated according to the artists origins (i.e. an Asian section, an American section, a female section, etc.)! I believe that this approach allows for each art piece to have its own impact, on its own terms. This also allows for strong juxtaposition between each art piece and the others around it, instead of a passive categorical grouping.

Therefore, the exhibition of LA MOCA's permanent collection achieves an inclusive nature, not just in the relation between art and viewer, but in the relation between the disparate pieces of art from all over the world. It is amazing to see that so many artists from all around the world are all grappling with issues of art in the age of mechanical reproduction (credit to Walter Benjamin for that highly influential essay, which amazingly is still highly relevant today, and especially to this show), and identity in the digital age. The show runs until May 3, 2010, and I highly suggest that anyone with even the slightest interest in contemporary art go see it. It is a great launching point for further studies into post-modern art, and many of these pieces are very large-scale, something which seeing digital reproductions cannot match (Benjamin would call it the "aura" of the piece - something lost upon digitization or mechanical reproduction). In short, this is a highly successful show, and something which should be visited.

Brandon Bird: Celebrity and Humor

"Lazy Sunday Afternoon"

"Arete"

Here's another artist that engages some of the themes I brought up in my previous posts, namely celebrity, humor, and their place in contemporary art. Bird's drawings and paintings range from incredibly detailed to almost childish sketches, but all of them exhibit the same regurgitation of pop culture personalities and imagery. I think that Bird is using this imagery (Norris, Harrison Ford, Lincoln, the Nintendo, the Sega Genisis, etc) as ready-made objects to be placed in a different context. Taylor states that, "Readymade object-sculpture begins from the premise that an existing object presented in a new fashion can be aesthetically more powerful - given certain assumptions about authorship, originality, and "presence" - than a newly crafted one" (Taylor 92).

These paintings also exhibit an opposite approach to depicting celebrity in art than Richard Avedon. Avedon preferred to present his subjects in amazing detail, mostly against a stark white background or in focus against a blurry background, however, Bird's approach depends on the context in which the iconic person is viewed (hence the Readymade connection). For instance, the two pieces above completely depend on the context Walken and Norris are in - Walken is presented as a mad scientist and Norris as a subject in a Rembrant painting. Without these juxtapositions, the pieces would have no potency in their humor.

Bird also utilizes his strange sense of humor in descriptions of his work, preferring to parody the process of dissecting iconography in an image, as seen in the quote below, which describes the painting "Bad Day on the High Sea":

"Here, raw sexual aggression is symbolized by the sperm whale, while the squid acts as a thinly-disguised metaphor for the multi-armed oligarchies of Rockefeller, Hearst, and Morgan. Their battle plays against the backdrop of the sea, standing in for--what else?--the vastness of the unconscious mind."

"Bad Day on the High Sea"

"No One Wants to Play Sega With Harrison Ford"

"King of the Cage"

Review #3: LA Printmaking Society 20th National Exhibition

The process of printmaking has been an integral part of art in the latter part of the 20th century. Originally made famous by Andy Warhol's

repetitious use of Marilyn Monroe's image in a series of silkscreen prints, printmaking has become a popular manner of image-production. This show, at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, showcases 20 years of printmaking art from around the country, and goes back even further with art from the Los Angeles area. Eve

n a cursory glance at these pieces reveals that the process of printmaking deals with a multitude of different mediums, which skilled artists often combine in interesting ways. Because this manner of mixed-media production highlights the way in which these pieces are produced,

and much of our discussions in class have been about art which focuses on modes of production, I will focus on a few pieces from the show which are self-reflexive in their blending of different mediums. While not all of these artists satisfy the requirements of a critical post-modern art, their pieces can be placed within the trajectory of art in the late 20th century that we have been studying.

The first artist which incorporates a self-reflexivity in their printmaking is Jeremy Lund, whose piece "Migration (Midst)" is featured below. The piece featured below is a screenprint made from various photos that Lund has taken of birds in mid-flight. The action of taking a series of images of single birds and combining them to create the illusion of an entire migratory flock reveals a focus on image-production as part of the art. Lund himself states, "Our representations of the ecosystem have brought me to a place of reworking schematic images to create an artwork that reflects the elusive nature of life. Obscured objects, ghosts images, and unfathomable numbers of living organisms that have captivated my imagination, are combined with the very literal schematic representations found in books and photography. the combination of printing techniques, bookbinding, photography, and drawing has created a final artwork that is not simply schematic, but a work that is the convergence of the known/unknown, literal/metaphorical and the real/fictional". In this way, Lund consciously chooses his medium in which to call attention to the way in which images are produced, similar to the "Pictures" generation of post-modern photographers, or painters such as Richter.

The next artist is a man named Phillip Dvorak, and his piece "La Pensador" utilizes three mediums: etching, gouache, and watercolor. While Dvorak's vision is a strange amalgamation of the grotesque, macabre, and sexual, his approach to printmaking resembles that of the neo-impressionists in that he supports aesthetically pleasing art simply because the process of art-making is pleasing to him. Dvorak says of this piece: it "is very much about the pure and sensual pleasures of looking a drawing". What this piece lacks in a critical statement it makes up in its surreal combination of lines and figures, which function together with the combination of mediums that Dvorak has chosen. Therefore, it fits into the history of modern art which we have been discussing as an example of a neo-expressionist approach to experimenting with different mediums.

The final piece which I want to discuss from this show is by a man named Bobby Rosenstock, and I selected it because I believe it relates to art from the early 90s: an emphasis on an individual story told with bold text, something which was absent from much of the art from the 70s and 80s. The title of the piece, a mixed medium of woodcut and letter press, is "19th and Walnut". Rosenstock says of this piece, "The subject matter of my current work is how stories and art can elevate ordinary people and events into fantastical tales and myths.

The LAMAG 20th National Exhibition has literally hundred of pieces by artists who use multitudes of different printmaking mediums, and there is something for everyone who is even slightly interested in the process. There are so many mediums represented in this show that one cannot come away from it without a respect for the depth of the printmaking process, and those who choose to produce art with it. I highly recommend a trip to this show, even if these three pieces do not strike your fancy.